1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to wireless Internet protocol TeleVision (IPTV) systems, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus that can efficiently manage bandwidths to preserve channels for additional users in a Video on Demand (VoD) service of a wireless IPTV system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Internet Protocol TeleVision (IPTV) systems provide multimedia services via IP networks that guarantee the quality, security and reliability of the multimedia services. The multimedia services include television, video, audio, document, graphic, data services, etc. IPTV services may also be classified into real-time broadcast services and Video on Demand (VoD) services.
Unlike the real-time broadcast services, which are deployed through broadcast methods, VoD services are deployed through unicast methods, so that a maximum number of available users is identical to the number of available channels. As the market of the wireless IPTV systems gradually increases, IPTV services will be provided to a large number of users. Therefore, it is expected that current bandwidths cannot properly cover operations to an increased number of users. Therefore, a method is required to efficiently manage the limited bandwidth and provide additional services to users.
The conventional traffic control technology used in IPTV systems can detect states of an IPTV system at any time as well as variably control the bandwidth and the amount of data transmission, by receiving a feedback of the amount of data buffered in a terminal and continuing to monitor the network. Although the conventional traffic control technology efficiently uses the existing bandwidth, the conventional technology is disadvantageous in that it cannot provide services to terminals beyond the maximum number of available channels. Therefore, while all users are using bandwidths allocated to a VoD service within the limited bandwidth, if additional users request the service, a method is required to provide the service to these additional users.